Literature News Roundup: Authors Join Forces For Freedom From Torture

A new charitable scheme has been put together with the support of a number of high-profile authors, such as Will Self, Margaret Atwood, Sebastian Faulks, Ian McEwan and Zadie Smith, to raise money for Freedom From Torture. The Foundation, which helps those who have been victims of torture, is currently holding an auction (which will end 20 November) to offer people the opportunity to appear in one of these author’s upcoming books. The writers are each ‘donating a character’ to this ‘Immortality Auction’, and the winning bidders will subsequently feature in the stories. You can see the website for more details and to place your bid.J.K. Rowling posted her Dolores Umbridge-centric Halloween essay online on Friday. The Pottermore essay revealed that this villain – the pink-suited, kitten-loving, gleefully evil one-time Hogwarts headmistress – was based on a real person from Rowling’s past. The character, however, was given some backstory. Shown to have been spiteful, vindictive and ambitious from youth, Dolores abandoned her mother for being a Muggle and manipulated her father into leaving his job as a janitor (simply so as not to embarrass her), and took credit for other people’s hard work in order to rise through the Ministry of Magic ranks. Although never specified in the books, this story provided answers to Dolores’ ultimate fate following Voldemort’s demise: successfully convicted of the torture and death of numerous witches and wizards.

There’s something very visually appealing about these comic book adaptations of classic literature. Including stories such as Macbeth, Wuthering Heights and Dracula, the Classical Comics transform our best literary works into delightfully modern graphic novels.

Are you, like many others out there, a fan of John Green and his teachings? Well last week The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns author posted a new youtube video in which he discusses ‘Why We Need Diverse Books’ (does anyone else really want Green’s bookshelves?)